Middlemarch

- Season 1

(1994)

Middlemarch is a town of the future with growing industrialization and improved communications such as the railway. For the newly arrived Dr. Tertius Lydgate, the future is the construction of a new hospital where he will be able to continue his laboratory work in medical science. He soon learns however that he will have to support his benefactor's choice for hospital Chaplain if he has any hope of successfully establishing himself. For Dorothea Brooke, the future is marriage to the Rev. Edward Casaubon an intelligent man with whom the equally intelligent Dorothea has...

Still in Rome on their honeymoon, Dorothea begins to realize that her husband is not prepared to share his thoughts or his work with her. When her husband's cousin, the artist Will Ladislaw, calls on her, they obviously have much in common. On their return to England, the Reverend Casaubon makes it clear that his cousin is not welcome to visit them. While the good Reverend is recovering from a heart attack however, Dorothea's uncle Arthur Brooke invites Ladislaw to visit. The new fever hospital is opened to great fanfare and Dr. Lydgate and Rosamond Vincy fall in love...

With the death of his uncle, Fred Vincy had hoped to inherit enough money to pay off all of his debts. The last will and testament of the deceased doesn't provide what he had hoped for. Dr. Lydgate and Rosamond Vincy are married and move into a beautiful, large home. They are very happy together even if the new bride is a bit extravagant. Dorothea is unhappy in her marriage and her husband continues to shut out of his work. When she tries to speak to him about their financial situation, he shuts her out completely. When he hears that his cousin, Will Ladislaw had ...

Now a widow, Dorothea Casaubon is concerned that she was not a good wife to her late husband. He in turn continues to make her unhappy from the grave having added a codicil to his will disinheriting her were she to marry Will Ladislaw. She does agree with Dr. Lydgate's suggestion and offers Reverend Farebrother her husband's chaplaincy. Dr. Lydgate's cousin, Captain Lydgate comes for an extended visit and strikes a great friendship with the doctor's wife. Despite her husband's repeated requests, she continues to go riding with the Captain despite her advancing ...

Dr. Lydgate's financial position continues to deteriorate and he is forced to take a loan using the furnishings in his house as collateral. When he shares this information with his wife and suggests that they find ways to economize, she reacts petulantly blaming him for their situation. He refuses her suggestion that he ask his rich Uncle Godwin for the money. Fred Vincy confides in Reverend Farebrother that he cannot truly see himself as a preacher. He would like to establish himself in another profession but mostly he would like to marry Mary Garth. He asks ...

Dr. Lydgate's finances have reached a crisis and many of his furnishings are repossessed. Unbeknownst to him, his wife Rosamond has written to his uncle Godwin asking for £1000 but he responds directly to Lydgate in a most deprecating manner. Lydgate approaches Nicholas Bulstrode who agrees to lend the funds. Bulstrode's nemesis has also returned but when the man dies in his house, rumors sweep the village that he was complicit in the man's death. Having accepted money from Bulstrode, Dr. Lydagate's reputation is also tarnished and no one will speak to him. Having ...

The end is near for the well-meaning reformers of Middlemarch. Lydgate is disgraced and ruined, and Dorothea has settled for a more-or-less happy marriage with Ladislaw.